Peter is struggling to fit in all aspects of his life. He was delivering pizzas but got fired for being late. He’s behind on his rent and on his schoolwork. He becomes Spider-Man whenever he’s needed. And then there’s Mary Jane, whom he decided to keep at arm’s length — but he doesn’t really want her to date anyone else. Meanwhile Dr. Otto Octavius has built a machine that gives a person four extra arms — but when he tries it out he finds the arms have a mind of their own.

Spider-Man 2 was released in 2004. It’s the sequel to Spider-Man. This is the second or third time I’ve seen it.

Now that we know how he got to be Spider-Man, we get to see Peter Parker adjusting to life as an adult.

Like the first movie, it’s interesting and fun. Peter has what you might call an identity crisis.

Doc Ock could have been a silly bad guy but Alfred Molina gives him the seriousness he needs.

Returning from the first movie is Danny Elfman (Edward Scissorhands) on music.

The expected actors reprise their roles from the first movie: Tobey Maguire as Peter / Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, James Franco as Harry, Rosemary Harris as May, J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, and Elizabeth Banks as Betty.

Joining them this time are Alfred Molina (An Education) as Dr. Otto Octavius and Donna Murphy (Star Trek: Insurrection) as his wife Rosie. Aasif Mandvi (the TV show The Daily Show) plays Peter’s boss Mr. Aziz. Elya Baskin (The Name of the Rose) plays Peter’s landlord and Mageina Tovah (the TV show Joan of Arcadia) plays his landlord’s daughter.

Emily Deschanel (the TV show Bones) has a small role as a receptionist. Bruce Campbell has another cameo, this time as the usher at Mary Jane’s play. And Stan Lee appears as Man Dodging Debris.

The movie was directed by Sam Raimi (Oz the Great and Powerful), who also directed the other two movies in the series.

This is definitely one of the best part 2s in any movie series — along with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Toy Story 2, and The Bourne Supremacy.

As for Spider-Man 3, since it’s bad I won’t be rewatching it.

In addition to loving the first two Spider-Man movies, I also love the entire run of The Amazing Spider-Man comic written by J. Michael Straczynski.